Keeping kids engaged, safe after school

March 9, 2015

Updated March 10, 2015 12:05 p.m.

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Students play a rhythm in this file photo from a Showcase for Anaheim Achieves event at Pearson Park. The YMCA program offers academic, art and sports activities among its ways of keeping kids active. , FILE PHOTO

Students play a rhythm in this file photo from a Showcase for Anaheim Achieves event at Pearson Park. The YMCA program offers academic, art and sports activities among its ways of keeping kids active. , FILE PHOTO

Q. My kids go to Paul Revere (Elementary) School. We are so nearby to Disneyland, but my kids cannot get into Disneyland. It is not the best neighborhood. I am thankful for the school, but I would like to make sure that they have good things to do when the school bell rings for the day also. Do you know of what they can do?

– Beatriz Guerrero,

Anaheim

A. Thank you for the question, Beatriz. For readers that might not be aware, Paul Revere school is located within a densely packed neighborhood, largely made up of apartment complexes near Guinida Lane. The community has been plagued by gang troubles and several notorious shootings in recent years.

There also are a lot of recent immigrants and caring families struggling every day to provide a better life for their children.

And it sounds as if you are trying to do the same, Beatriz. There are many good people trying to provide more resources for your neighborhood. I’m sure I won’t cover them all here, but a couple that I know of are the Anaheim Family YMCA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Anaheim.

Paul Revere school is one of 47 campuses served through the Anaheim Achieves after-school program, designed to keep kids involved in positive programs during the critical late-afternoon hours of 3 to 6 p.m., when some kids otherwise might lack direction and role models and get into trouble.

Through that YMCA program, kids get help with homework and can stay physically and mentally active. The focus is on academics, enrichment (art and dance), recreation and fitness, and character building (teaching honesty, caring, respect and responsibility). You can call 714-635-9622 or look online at anaheimymca.org.

The Boys & Girls Club has similar programs and often provides transportation to its activities. For information on its programs, call 714-491-3617 or visit boysandgirlsclub.org.

Also, Anaheim Community Services’ Fun on Wheels is a free drop-in program that offers sports, crafts and games under the supervision of city staff. The Fun on Wheels truck visits Paul Revere school from 2:45 to 5 p.m. each Friday. For information on that program, call 714-765-5191.

Readers Know Best

Last week’s Mr. Anaheim column included a question about a long-shuttered water park near Disneyland. While Mr. Anaheim has vague childhood memories of riding the slide in his youth, the name escaped me. So I put the question to readers. And, true to form, you came through.

Gus Fieldhouse wrote in to say: “I'm sure by now you figured out that the water slide park to which you referred was Wild Wild Wet. I went there a few times when I was a kid. I also would go to the Bob’s Big Boy at Lincoln and Euclid often with my co-workers from Michael’s Pizza for a hot fudge cake after we got off work at midnight in the mid-’80s … Reading that today really took me back!”

Reader Jennifer Fox wrote: “In your Bulletin article you mentioned the water park that was near the 5 and Sheraton Hotel, it was called Wild Wild Wet … I remember going there in the ’70s as a child. It wasn’t terribly expensive and you used mats to go down the slide and if you fell off the mat the slide material was rough so it really hurt. But we loved it!”

Boy, that falling off the mat sure brought back memories. I remember that now, especially when a friend persuaded me to jump on and ride down on a single mat. We’d build up plenty of speed – which only caused more pain when you fell off and onto the rough concrete.

Thanks to all the readers for helping solve that mystery. If you’re looking for the location today, it’s roughly where the Banc of California building is just southwest of Ball Road and the I-5.

A few readers also corrected my recollection of the original Mexi Casa location. Realtor Paul Kott wrote in and shared his recollections of Bob’s Big Boy, Woody Chevrolet and a nearby restaurant called Ah Fongs, then added: “Regarding Mexi Casa, I believe the original location of the restaurant was at 1750 W. Lincoln Ave., which later became The Conejo Feliz (Happy Rabbit), and is now, I believe, a Latino nightclub.

“As mentioned in your article, the restaurant then moved to the Manchester location and subsequently to the Kettle Restaurant site in the early 1990s in conjunction with the Caltrans project widening the I-5. The current location has curiously changed its address.

“The Kettle’s address was always 1776 W. Lincoln Ave. The owners, Doc & Ruth Bila, always took pride in that their address also reflected the birthdate of our nation!

“Now, the owners have pasted some numerical stickers reflecting that the address is 1778 W. Lincoln. One of those local mysteries, I guess. If you look carefully above the front door, you will still see the original “Seventeen Seventy Six” written in script, but painted over, that the Bilas enjoyed so much. This is still the best bargain for Mexican food in town. I think sometimes the tip is more than the meal!”

Thanks to Mr. Kott and all the Mr. Anaheim readers for sharing their knowledge.

Eric Carpenter, or Mr. Anaheim to his Bulletin readers, was a longtime Register news reporter and is now an Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman.

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